Malt & Beans
New England Brewing Company

Uh-oh, BEER BACKLOG ALERT! Looks like I’ve been away for a couple weeks and now I’ve got about 10 new beers to review in my fridge – oh dear, I’m devastated. Well, guess I’ll just have to pull up me britches and do a good old fashioned beer review flight, destination: smashed (no doubt by the end of today). These next three beers are Stouts and Porters, cause you know – winter is here in Brisbane, and that means it’s a brisk 23 degrees (Celsius) outside at the moment – I’ve got my slippers on right now, brrrr! First up it’s a New England Brewing beer, which whilst I’m not a fan of their core range, their limited release stuff is usually interesting, such as this Coffee Stout with PNG Lamari Peaberry coffee beans, this should be good.

Poured from a 375ml can into a nonic pint.

A: Pours a nice deep brown, like ground coffee beans, with a khaki cappuccino foam head that drops back to a thin blanket with minimal lace on the side of the glass. She looks alright, nothing outstanding, just a solid: 7/10.

S: Here’s where Coffee Stouts really like to wow me – aroma is upfront cold-drip PNG Lamari Peaberry and nothing else. To describe the coffee: it’s a pleasant red coffee cherry, earthy tones and a hint of citrus. As far as coffee flavours go PNG is one of my top 3 destinations (after Ethiopia and I would have said Columbia in the past but Guatemala is now my second favourite). Could use a bit of malt character, but the coffee is the star here. 8/10.

T: As close to a cold-drip coffee as I’ve tasted in a beer thus far. Flavour is dominated and driven by that PNG coffee and if it wasn’t for the texture and a touch of hop bitterness in the finish I would swear I was drinking a coffee right now. Flavours include: red coffee cherry, earthy tones, hint of citrus and a slight herbal hop note towards the end. Finish has that typical New England Brewing long dry character (due to their yeast strain). In this instance it works well, giving the coffee flavour a chance to shine, however a bit of sweetness overall wouldn’t have gone astray. 8/10.

M: Mid to light bodied with a creamy(ish) carbonation, pretty decent. 8/10.

D: Well this was a happy coincidence from NEB – that their typical dryness actually paid dividends with the coffee flavours – if you get a chance and love coffee this brew is worth a crack thanks to the exceptional PNG coffee beans used and NEB’s skill in experimental beers (still not a fan of their core range). 8/10.

Food match: Really would kill for a pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant) right now.